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TO ENSURE FUNDING SPENT PROPERLY
CUC advised to establish programs
The U.S. government recommends that the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. establish operations and maintenance (O&M) programs to better ensure that the millions of funds CUC received from the federal and CNMI governments for projects are spent properly in the future.
U.S. Department of Justice Environmental Enforcement Section senior attorney Bradley R. O’Brien, counsel for the U.S. government, said a judicially enforceable mandate should be established requiring CUC to fund, schedule, and implement effective O&M programs for federal court’s two stipulated orders’ funded projects.
O’Brien discussed the recommendation in the U.S. government’s January 2019 status report, which was filed yesterday before the U.S. District Court for the NMI.
The DOJ senior trial attorney disclosed that since the entry of the federal court’s Stipulated Orders 1 and 2, CUC will have received over $100 million from the federal and CNMI governments for SO1 and SO2 projects.
SO 1 focuses on drinking water and wastewater and the restructuring of CUC’s organization.
SO 2 focuses on oil issues and also applies to oil spills and the remediation of the contaminated power plants.
O’Brien said CUC’s commitment would extend to projects such as the pipeline, Tanks 102 (diesel fuel tank) and 103 (aboveground storage tank), secondary containment, the proposed incinerator, oil water separators, the Agingan and Sadog Tasi wastewater treatment facilities, the sewer collection system, and Safe Drinking Water Act compliant 24-hour drinking water service.
“These improvements must be maintained in future years, cannot be permitted to fall into disrepair, and should continue to function as intended,” O’Brien said.
He said CUC should establish O&M programs for the two stipulated orders projects that include program-specific budgets for adequate staffing, equipment, materials, and supplies sufficient to maintain effective operations.
